Tuesday, September 14, 2010

My Own Rental Car

Sitting in traffic on the way to the car rental company took a bit more time than we all anticipated. The weekly market was blocking the streets and I couldn't get the GPS on my phone to read where we were with all the large stone buildings. The rental car office closed for lunch in less than 20 minutes and I did not want to sit outside the office waiting for 3 hours for the office to reopen. Suddenly Nancy saw signs and we were in front. Stress averted.

I knew I had an upgrade coming at Autoeurope but I didn't really understand what that meant. I figured I'd move up 2 horses and get a flashier color on the fiat panda that I had booked. The agent behind the desk said I had an upgrade, but actually said it would actually be 5 upgrades and that was going to be driving a bmv. I was a little confused but recovered quickly upon seeing the blue BMW logo. I quickly loaded my bags from the trusty Peugeot, tried to figure out the key system, and said a few brief and inadequate thank yous to Sue and Nancy. I Instinctually drove out of town without any hesitation. I could not make a wrong turn. The car handled nicely on the beautiful roads to the hill town of Volterra. Now this was driving.

Porcini & Pecorino wrapped in Lardo & Zucchini (which is a green vegetable, by the way!)

Parking spot found, I picked a restaurant out of the guide book, tried to memorize the map and I was off into the town. Found the Trattoria del Sacco Fiorentino easily. Again no wrong turns. This was getting too easy. I wanted everything on the menu so I ordered a glass of vermintino to enjoy while I thought about it.

Pecorino & Radicchio al Forno

I decided on two antipasti, the roasted squab (or piccione in Italian) and an insalata verde. The server knew that one glass of Rosso di Montepulciano would not be enough so he brought a 1/4 litre. Am I that easy to read?

Piccione & Radicchio

After another macchiato, it's back to the car and back to Siena! Maybe I'll try to find a cord to plug my phone into the car... a little music might be nice.